5 Challenges You May Encounter as a VA and How to Overcome Them (2024)

However, like any career, there are challenges that VAs and VEs face. Fortunately, you can overcome those challenges to build a highly successful business as a Virtual Assistant.

Here are the 5 challenges you may face as a Virtual Assistant and Virtual Expert® and how to overcome them

1. Not Asking for Help

There’s that old saying: “It takes a village to raise a child.” In a sense, your Virtual Assistant business is like your child. It can be challenging, unpredictable, confusing, and demanding. There may be times when you just want to throw in the towel, sit in the corner, and cry.

However, just like one would do with their child, you must pick yourself (and sometimes your pride) up, confront the challenge, and figure out a way to move forward.

The best way to find resolution when faced with struggles when building your Virtual Assistant business is to ask for help. Seek out a coach who has achieved what you want to achieve. She has experienced the same feelings and tackled the same challenges. Her wisdom can help guide you to achieve your goals.

Additionally, join a support group of other VAs and VEs. There are women out there who have built highly successful Virtual Assistant businesses and who are more than willing to help you. As part of my Virtual Expert® program, you become a member of our extremely supportive VE Community.

You don’t have to figure out everything alone. Find your resources and use them.

2. Not Valuing Yourself

Your sense of self-worth can become a major struggle as you build your virtual assistant business. As women, we sometimes allow our feelings and fears to dictate how we run our businesses.

You may feel like you’re not good enough or that you don’t know what you’re doing. Because of these feelings, you allow others to push your boundaries and negotiate until you accept much less than you deserve.

Never lose sight of the merit and value you bring to your clients. Hold firm to your rates and don’t accept less than you’re worth. The quality of service and expertise you provide demands that you are paid for the value you bring.

3. Fear of Failure

The women who have successful Virtual Expert® businesses are no different than you. Remember my motto, “What one woman can do, another can do.”

Like you, those successful VEs have experienced failure. They’ve faced challenges. They’ve struggled. They’ve felt like giving up, but they found a way to rise above it. They took a different route, learned a new strategy, and asked for help.

As Franklin Roosevelt wisely stated, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”
Fear gets in the way of your dreams. It stops you in your tracks and traps you. Fear prohibits you from living the life you imagine.

To overcome your fear, set goals, and take baby sets to achieve those goals. Success doesn’t happen overnight. You may have to re-write your path a few times, but if you don’t let fear control you, your success is inevitable.

4. Overlooking Your Accomplishments

It’s much easier to get consumed by the struggles and challenges than it is to recognize your successes. When you’re struggling, the negative seems to outweigh the positive.

Therefore, it’s important to acknowledge and celebrate even the smallest successes. By reflecting on what you’ve accomplished, you help to keep your mindset positive and keep you motivated to persevere.

5. Balance of Work and Family

In your Virtual Expert® business, you will primarily work from home. Therefore, your to-do list can feel exponential. It can be challenging to focus on your business while there are dishes in the sink and laundry to do. It’s easy to be distracted by the stress of running a household and caring for your family.

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